Roh Hoe-chan (Korean: 노회찬, 31 August 1956 – 23 July 2018) was a South Korean politician. He was a member of the 17th, 19th, and 20th National Assemblies. Roh was involved with multiple progressive-leaning parties, lately with the Justice Party from 2012 until his death in 2018.
Early life
Roh was born on 31 August 1956 in Busan into a middle-class household.[1][2] He attended the prestigious Kyunggi High School in the 1970s.[2] Afterwards, Roh went to college, taking part in political movements, and in 1982 was hired as a welder at a factory where he organized the factory workers.[2] Roh was instrumental in the formation of the Incheon Democratic Workers' Federation (인천민주노동자연맹) with the aim of creating the workers' party. He was jailed for 30 months after being caught by the government in 1989, accused of breaking the National Security Act.[3]
Political career
After serving his jail term, Roh was involved with the formation of progressive political parties in the 1990s,[4] which later became the Democratic Labor Party in 2000.[5]
In 2005, he posted the names of the prosecutors implicated in corruption cases involving Samsung on the internet.[12] He was charged with breaking Korea's communication secrecy act, and after a long legal battle, he was sentenced to 4 months in prison and given a 1-year suspended prison sentence in 2013.[12]
In July 2018, Roh was under investigation into accusations that he had accepted ₩50 million from an aide to an influential blogger[13] known as "Druking"[2] while at the center of an opinion-rigging scandal.
Roh married fellow labor activist Kim Ji-sun in 1988. The couple had no children. Roh was a cello player from his elementary school days, and often dreamed of a society where every citizen could pick up a musical instrument.[14]
Death
Roh committed suicide, aged 61, by jumping from his mother's apartment in Seoul on 23 July 2018. His death occurred during the course of the special prosecutor's investigations into the illegal political funds of Druking, the main perpetrator of the South Korean opinion-rigging scandal.[15][13]
Roh's will, addressing the Justice Party and its membership, admitted receiving ₩40 million (approximately US$35,300) from Druking's organization but denied any form of favoritism in exchange for the campaign contribution.[16] According to Political Fund Act which he supported, it is still illegal and guilty because the amount of money he has received already exceeds the legitimate scope.[17]
In response to his death, South Korean PresidentMoon Jae-in said Roh had made “big contributions to widening the spectrum of [South] Korean politics".[18]
^Yun, Seong-min (23 July 2018). ""난 사회주의자" 법정서 외친 엘리트 노동운동가 노회찬" ["I am a socialist," the leading labor activist, Roh Hoe-chan]. Joongang Ilbo. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
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